Amber's Big Day!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day for the Madsen family! Kevin's only sister, Amberlie, got married! She and Anthony have been together over 2 years so it was a big day for them! The wedding was over looking a beautiful golf course and everything was just perfect! Amberlie looked beautiful & her dress was breathtaking! It was a very emotional day for me because Amber and I are very close and she is not my sister-in-law, she is my sister. And to see her so happy, makes me so happy. All of the sister in laws stayed together in a hotel the night before the wedding and went to dinner and got all of our nails & toes done. Then in the morning, we helped her get ready. I got to help her get her wedding dress on and that was a very special moment for me that I will never forget. She is such a special girl and Anthony is such a lucky guy to have snagged her! I know they will be happy together and we will miss them as they move away today for the summer!

The beautiful bride

Troy, the handsome ring barrier


Heather & Kayla-Amberlie's adorable best friends

Troy giving Anthony the ring

Such an adorable moment! Amber kissed his little cheek & it made me cry!

Done with his "job". He earned his new dinosaurs :) Do all parents bribe their kids like this?!

The beautiful cake

My sweet little family!

I love my Grandpa!

We got the chance to have a fun dinner with a lot of my cousins while my Grandpa was in town. My Grandpa Argyle lives in Spokane, Washington so we are lucky if we get to see him once a year. He is the funniest guy ever and I always LOVE it when I get to see him. We met everyone for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in American Fork and got some fun pictures afterwards. He wasn't too excited for the photo shoot but we forced him :) Troy was sooo cute with him at dinner and kept calling his name and telling him all kinds of him. He and Troy enjoyed some calamari and Troy had fun eating all of the squid legs one at a time! Grandpa got a kick out of it!

Crazy Kid!

I swear, Colt is such a curious little boy! I always find him in the middle of getting into things! But he is just too cute, I usually just grab the camera instead of getting after him! Here he is in Jack's crate in the laundry room. I has a facination with anything that involves Jack!

Which Princess are You?

Thanks for the quiz, Pocahontas ;) I'm not too suprised that I am Cinderella, I guess I am a little too high maitenance :) You can do the quiz here: http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354

May Stamp Camp

This update is for all of my stamping & scrapbooking friends! This is the upcoming project we will be doing for May's Stamp Camp! All of the people in town will be getting their invitations today and tomorrow but I wanted you to be able to see the project ahead of time. This is the cutiest "Favorite Recipes Book" that would be perfect for yourself or for a Mother's Day gift. We will make the book that night and then you can add your favorite recipes on your own. Also, how cute would this be for a wedding gift along with some cookie sheets or another kitchen item. Anyway, just wanted to show everyone! We always have a BLAST when we get together at Stamp Camp! Look for your invitations with all of the details or email me if you need info before then! Thanks everyone!

Into Everything!

I swear, my boys are into everything! I came into the kitchen from the bedroom and this is what I saw...Troy must have gotten into the fridge and freezer looking for a snack and left the doors open and guess who went looking for a snack of his own!

Weekend at the Bartholomews!

We had a fun sleepover at the Bartholomews house last weekend! Kevin and Mark had to go on a Young Mens campout so Cass and I had all the kids by ourselves. She was such a big help with me with the boys. Kasen had his birthday party Friday afternoon...check out the adorable train conductor hats! We took the kids to the city's big egg hunt and then we dyed Easter eggs. While the boys played and the babies slept, we had a blast eating leftover birthday cake, pizza, McDonalds and easter candy. We better not do this too often or I will gain back all my weight! Thanks, Cass, for the fun overnighter!

Easter!

Well all of my friends are showing me up since they already have their Easter pictures posted! We had a fun, relaxing day at home. The boys enjoyed an egg hunt in the front yard and getting the fun things in their Easter basket. We went to church (my first time in 6 weeks and it was sooo nice!) It was great to see everyone there again. (Thank you, Cookie, for the darling Easter outfits!) Then we went to Grandma Nae and Grandpa Pauls house for dinner and another egg hunt. It was a fun day!

Fun in the Tub!

So my mom should get the "Cookie Of the Year Award" in our opinion! Not only did she come for 2 weeks to take care of my family, but she went above and beyond in so many ways! She cooked amazing meals (and filled my freezer with them), she cleaned, took Colt to the doctor two times to deal with two ear infections, and played a ton with her little grandsons. She did the most creative forms of play with them that just blew me away! She brought a can of shaving cream to play with the in bathtub in it was a huge hit! Thank you, Mom/Cookie, for being the best grandma in the world! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Cookie & Papa's Room

My cute little daddy took the picture of the flower from his garden and framed it for us!

Just wanted to post some pictures of our newly finished guest bedroom and bathroom in the basement. Kevin did the bedroom and it took him about 2 months to finish....we paid to have the bathroom done and it took 1 1/2 weeks! So we will probably hire out the rest of the basement when it is time! We got it all ready for my parents to come and take care of us after my surgery. It was so nice for them to have their own space!

Yikes!

5 days post surgery, the day I got out of the hospital

2 weeks post surgery

3 1/2 weeks post surgery

Ok, don't think I am a sicko but I have gotten several requests to post some pictures of my scar! I know, it's gross but to me and Kev, we think it looks awesome compared to what it used to look like! I am doing soooo much better now! I am off of my pain pills, back on a normal sleeping schedule, hardly using my back brace, and walking around the block! Oh, and I've lost 12 pounds even though it will probably just come back...I even fit in my skinny Seven jeans I haven't worn sinch before Colt was born :) Everyone recovers differently from surgery and I guess I am just on the speedy side! I still can't lift anything more than a gallon of milk or bend over so it's still tough to do stuff around the house but overall, I am on my way to a full recovery. And I am proud to say that I have no back pain like I did before! Yeah! So thanks everyone for your prayers and calls...I have the best friends and family ever!

Update...

Hey everyone! I am finally feeling well enough to post an update. First, thank you to all of my amazing friends and family who have written and called. I have the most amazing support system! The surgery went great on Monday. I have an awesome surgeon who is widely respected all over the country. He found a lot more damage in my back than he was expecting, lots of nerve damage from the slipped disk. Things were going great and I went home from the hospital on Thursday. On Friday, I began to have extreme pains down my legs which made it hard to breath at times. I have to apologize to Erin for calling from Switzerland and having to hear me sob while I had a breakdown on the phone with her (Thanks for listening and crying with me and I can't wait to get my Swiss Chocolate "medicine"! Worried about blood clots, I was sent up to Utah Valley Hospital on Saturday by ambulance to get tests done and figure out what was wrong. All of my tests came back showing nothing internally wrong with my rods and screws and there were no blood clots. The pain was due to swelling around my damaged nerves. This was was so bad, morphin (which usually puts me out) did nothing to ease the pain. They admitted me back into the hospital on Saturday until they could get my pain under control. By Sunday night, I was feeling much better taking oral medication instead of shots so I was able to come home, today, Monday. It's been a heck of a week but I am feeling much better and hoping that the nerve pain is behind me. I still have to keep up on my pain pils to stay on top of my pain but overall, I am in great shape for being 1 week post surgery. My staples are out and my scar is pretty crazy! I make Kevin take pictures of it so I can see it! So thanks again everyone for your concern. I came home to several care packages from friends---lets just say I was completely spoiled this week! I love you guys so much! I am in bed on my laptop so send me an email if you have a minute!
Love,
Erin

Over and Out....

Just wanted to let everyone know why the blog will not be updated for a while! I am having my back surgery on Monday (the 18th) so there probably won't be much picture taking for a few months. My mom is coming tomorrow to help for 2 weeks and then my amazing friends and neighbors will be taking care of us! My recovery is looking like it will be 3 days in the hospital, 6 weeks in bed only getting out to use the bathroom and 3 months of not lifting my kids. Sad :( So I am hoping by mid-May, I will be over the worst of it. I keep telling myself that there is no way around this surgery because I can not live my life with the amount of pain I have, even being on pain pills all day. Wish me luck! Kev got me a new laptop so I will be online in bed as soon as am feeling up for it. I will post on here then and I always have email! Take care and be glad you aren't me right now!!!

Crusin'

Wrigley Memorial-Catalina Island

An absolutely beautiful day in Catalina-we hurried back to the boat and layed out the rest of the day!

Ensenada, Mexico- At the Flea Market & Blowhole

I wish everything were this cheap at home! I payed $8 to have my hair braided and $3 for that huge cup of fresh pineapple and mango. Need I say more! Oh the hair only lasted about 10 hours until I woke up in the night with a pounding headache!

Ensenada, Mexico

Here are a few pictures of our fabulous trip to Mexico! Kevin and I went to celebrate 5 years of being happily married! What a blessing! We spent 5 days on the boat and had a blast. It was a great place to just be "Kevin and Erin" instead of Mom and Dad. We really needed it! Kevin's mom watched the boys all week! We love her so much! The vacation was a great break before I head in for back surgery on Monday.

Weekend with the Davis Family

We were so excited to have our good friends, the Davis', come down to visit for the weekend! Zac & Kim were our neighbors in Spanish Fork at our townhome and we used to do everything together. Kim and I would wake up in the morning, call each other other, and usually spend the entire day together. That was the summer we would go to Seven Peaks Water Park twice a week! We were crazy! Their kids are complete dolls! Tag (5), Jaelyn or "JJ" as we call her (4) and Bentley (6 months). Troy has a blast with them whenever we get up to Payson to see them! We had a fun weekend hanging out and playing in the snow. We love you guys!